I suppose almost everyone is aware that Israel has a new national unity government. It seems to me that this might be the golden opportunity for Israel to address a number of domestic issues (which I will let actually Israelis who actually live in Israel to worry about for now) as well as a golden opportunity for progress in the stalled "peace process". With 96 seats in the Knesset Bibi now has the political security to finalize a deal. Will Abu Mazen and the corrupt PA, which has done all it can to prevent the creation of a new Arab Palestinian State now be forced to come to the negotiating table and make a deal? Will the people who pretend to support the Arab Palestinians and a new Arab Palestinian state force him to take the bold step of saying yes? Time will tell.

. . .Outlining the unity government's goals, Netanyahu pointed to four objectives: "To bring a just and egalitarian alternative to the Tal Law; a responsible budget that will address the State of Israel's needs; to change the government system; and to try to promote a responsible peace process where security is maintained. ". . .

An analysis for a group which is not friendly to Bibi or even particularly friendly to the state of Israel, Americans for Peace Now.

. . .

The big question is whether Netanyahu will capitalize on his new enormous coalition - 94 Knesset members - to lead, to pursue bold initiatives, to capitalize on his opportunity for exercising statesmanship; or if he will use it as a tool to maintain the status-quo.

With the establishment of this coalition, Netanyahu has a clear opportunity to reach a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians - knowing that he can count on Kadima and probably Labor to support him. In doing so, Netanyahu can guarantee his place in history as the leader who secured Israel's future as a Jewish state that is a true democracy. Will he do so?

( Of course they forget that even if he wants to Bibi and Israel need Abu Mazen and the PA to ummmm actually show up at the negotiating table). . .

When President Obama took office, there was a sense in Washington that if any Israeli leader could credibly sell such a peace deal to skeptical Israelis, it is Netanyahu. Polls show that this is even more true today than it was three years ago. Netanyahu's government is likely to live its term. America's next elected president could seize the opportunity and work with Netanyahu to help him be remembered as the Israeli statesman who brought his people peace.

Another view of the new Israeli coalition government. (And I am not just posting it because it agrees with me - although that helps)

Netanyahu’s ‘big bang’: A preliminary analysis

Israel may finally have gotten the political “big bang” that voters thought they were getting during the elections three years ago. The agreement bringing the centrist and pragmatic Kadima party into a wider government coalition, under Netanyahu’s leadership, creates the stable and broad political base necessary for tackling Israel’s major challenges. The ideological fringes and interest groups on all sides are isolated, and their artificial political power, resulting from the ability to bring down narrow coalitions, has been deflated.

While a totally fresh start in the complex Israeli political system is unrealistic, the new coalition, based on a wide Zionist consensus, provides unprecedented opportunities for addressing and perhaps even fixing many of the dysfunctional components. The agenda items for this new government provide more than enough urgent issues to fill the 18 months until elections must be held. Even prioritizing them will not be easy. And governing with a coalition of 94 Knesset members (more that three-quarters of the total) has some significant limitations.''

. . .

On the complex issues of borders, settlements and negotiations with the Palestinians, the new government can belatedly confront the violent fringe that has sought to impose its views. The pragmatic consensus that supports a stable peace, if possible, and recognizes the costs to Israel of unending occupation and responsibility for millions of Palestinian Arabs, can reassert its voice.

This does not mean a return to the vulnerability of the 1949 cease-fire lines, or destruction of communities built in good faith across that “green line.” But now, the government has the credibility to pursue negotiations for a two-state framework based on compromise. If Israelis see a basis for stable agreement, including an end to invented Palestinian histories and efforts to flood Israel with millions of third-generation “refugees,” the majority will accept the costs. And if such negotiations reach another dead end, a broad-based Israeli government can move toward implementing the consensus approach to borders and leave the Palestinians to decide how to govern themselves.. . .

Finally, the fact that this political maneuver took most Israeli pundits by surprise demonstrates the degree to which Netanyahu’s strategic and political skills are underestimated and misrepresented. Ideological and personal factors have blinded analysts and foreign political leaders, including heads of state, to the caution and deliberation with which Netanyahu has governed in the past three years. There are also important lessons to be learned from this dimension.

Overall, the consensus-based governing coalition is the right move at the right time. But despite having come close to the long-overdue “big bang” before, only to be disappointed by the fizzle, the renewed optimism is justified.

This new government will last no longer than to the end of 2013 and may end sooner. It was formed about 99 percent as a result of domestic politics and about one percent as a result of Israeli foreign policies, including peace with the Palestinians and relations with Iran. The architect of this new government was primarily Shaul Mofaz, someone to watch in the coming years. He has been an advocate of Kadima joining the coalition since the last election but was unable to act on this until he defeated Tzipi Livni and gained the leadership of the Kadima party. On the basis of the polls elections looked like a good idea to Natanyahu but he has trouble with a rebellious right wing of his own party and he knows that his good standing in the polls reflects his centrist policies. If, for party purposes he had to take a stand a couple of steps to the right, it would cost him votes in the elections.

Mofaz looked at the same polls, as well as the fact that he needs time to rebuild the Kadima party and these only added to his desire to enter the government. Yair Lapid had just announced the formation of a new party which the polls showed would take ten seats away from Kadima. This popularity arises out of the fact that Lapid looks and talks well but so far hasn't said much on policy other than a few slogans. The more time Lapid has available, the more he will have to talk and the less popular he will probably become. By the end of next year his new party may not even exist.

There are two political items on the agenda and Mofaz has focussed on these. The first is a national service law that will replace the Tal Law. The second is the Israeli state budget and its impact on the economic welfare of the population. Both of these are political hot potatoes and my guess is that a deal has been made about them in order to form this new government. Both issues are going to be important for the parties running in the next election, no matter when it takes place. An indication that it was meant for policy to be seen as the motivation for the formation of this new government and not immediate political advantage, is the fact that the Kadima party will only get a Minister without portfolio in the cabinet (Mofaz, himself) when, given the party's size, it should get five or six ministers. If the coalition comes apart it will clearly be for policy reasons and not be seen as the usual infighting over political spoils.

As I wrote, the issue of peace is fairly unimportant in all of this. Mofaz has some proposals but they are nothing really new. The new coalition loudly proclaims that it is willing and even anxious to negotiate with the Palestinians under the guidelines set up by the the Gang of Four; U.S, EU, the Russians and the UN but in the meantime Abbas can't negotiate and Hamas won't so nothing much is happening there, which is a political comfort to Bibi. There is a growing consensus in Israel that whatever happens in Iran will have to be in conjunction with the Americans, so unless something unexpected happens in the land of the Ayatollahs, Israel is not going to go it alone.

Just as an aside, the Labor party, The Haredi parties, the newly formed Yair Lapid Party and the extreme right wing parties are all foaming at the mouth over this new government. These are strange bedfellows indeed, but Israeli politics has always been creative.

I really don't want to pour cold water on your hopes but no matter what Bibi writes in his letter, Abbas will find a reason not to negotiate or if bludgeoned into negotiations, not to agree. As long as the Hamas and Fatah are at each others throats, Abbas is stuck in place as far as a peace agreement with Israel is concerned.

Netanyahu's Saturday reply to last month's letter from Abbas rejected demands to halt Jewish settlement building in occupied territories and repeated a call for an unconditional return to talks that collapsed in 2010, according to the officials.

. . .

Few diplomats, however, expect any breakthrough ahead of the US presidential election in November, although the surprise formation of a national unity government in Israel last week has provided a slight flicker of hope.. . .

Personally, I think that if the only thing stopping talks is a demand for a "construction freeze" (which it isn't but that is another story) then Israel should agree to and demand a complete construction freeze in all disputed areas. A total freeze! Israel should demand loudly that nothing, not even pitching a tent should be allowed by anyone on either side in the territories. Such a position gives the Arab Palestinians what they are asking for and makes it fair to both parties. I wonder why Bibi hasn't thought of it. :-) Who knows maybe that was what was in the letter.

I am still ever hopeful that someone will be able to explain to Abu Mazen that the prospects for the creation of another Arab Palestinian State get dimmer by the day and that the result will not be the Arab Palestinian idea (touted loudly here and other places) of a One State Solution a.k.a. no Israel.